Protection
by draco-is-the-punk
Summary: Set at the beginning of OoTP, Sirius and Remus are moving into Twelve Grimmauld under the orders of Dumbledore. How will they cope with their personal demons and hidden feelings? SBxRL, implied SSxRB T for safety WARNING: SLASH and TONKSBASHING
1. Default Chapter

**I wanted a challenge for my latest fic so I decided to name each of my chapter titles and the main story title using a random word generator and seeing if I could make the story fit. It is set during OoTP, but towards the beginning; I don't have the heart to kill Sirius off! It is, as usual, a Sirius/Remus story, so usual warnings apply.**

**Hope you enjoy it!**

**Draco-is-the-punk**


	2. Garbage

**Garbage**

The room was dark; all the curtains were closed and the lights had been extinguished. A man was sitting on a battered chair in the corner, his fingers locked as he stared upwards at the ceiling. He shook his newly cut hair out of his eyes and sighed. A second man peered around the doorway.

"There you are… we have to leave in a minute. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be…" Sirius replied. Remus sat down on the bed and gave him a reassuring smile.

"It's just…" Sirius sighed, trying to find the words. "I ran away from that house… I never wanted to go back there. Too many memories."

"I know." Remus said consolingly. "But I'll be with you… it isn't like you'll be alone."

Sirius nodded. Being alone was what he most feared. He still had nightmares about swarms of Dementors gliding towards him, their clammy cold breath freezing him to the spot, unable to move…

"Is Buckbeak ready?" he asked.

"Yes, I gave him some food a few minutes ago."

"Good… Remus?"

"Mmmm?"

"Thanks for volunteering to come with me. I really appreciate it."

Remus smiled.

"You didn't think I would pass up the chance of leaving this dump and going to stay in a mansion?" he said jokingly. Sirius grinned.

"It's far from a mansion, and I'd choose your house over my house any day."

"Besides…" Remus said quietly "You aren't the only one who doesn't like being alone."

He shivered, and Sirius moved forwards as if he meant to give him a hug, but thought better of it and sat back down. He looked at his watch and sighed. It was nearly time for them to make a move.

"I don't see why we can't just stay here." he burst out. "I mean, Dumbledore can have Twelve Grimmauld for the Order, but do we really have to live there?"

Remus put a comforting hand on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius looked at his old friend and smiled. He couldn't believe how little Remus had changed over the years. His light brown hair had gained a few grey hairs, and he looked more tired and worn, but his smile was as warm and friendly as they had always been, and he still had eyes you could get lost in.

Remus got to his feet, and motioned for Sirius to do the same.

"It's time."

Sirius groaned and stood up. He followed Remus down the narrow wooden stairs into the hall, and picked up the bag containing the few clothes Remus had bought for him in a Muggle shop. His new wand, made by Ollivander who had been sworn to secrecy, was tucked into the inside pocket of his jacket. Remus had a trunk containing his clothes and Defence books. He grabbed the handle, and then opened the back door. They couldn't Apparate inside the house due to the protective charms Dumbledore had set up around each of the Order members' houses, so they made their way up a small track leading to a secluded wood before Apparating to Grimmauld Place. Sirius swallowed as he looked at his childhood home, but put on a brave face. Dumbledore was waiting for them inside, and beckoned them to follow him into the kitchen. Sirius scowled as he looked around him, and Remus slipped a protective arm around his waist. Sirius jumped at the touch, and Remus quickly withdrew it. Sirius scolded himself; it was merely a friendly gesture. He could feel the schoolboy crush he used to have on Remus was slowly coming back and he didn't want it to. That had caused enough heartache when he was at Hogwarts and he didn't want it to spoil things now.

It didn't occur to Sirius that Remus could possibly feel the same way. Azkaban had dealt a massive blow to Sirius' self esteem, and he considered himself nothing more than garbage. The thought of anybody finding him attractive never crossed his mind. When he looked in the mirror, he saw a gaunt, haunted face, all the looks he once had were gone. He was a shadow of his former self. He failed to see how his pale face lit up when he smiled, or the bottomless beauty of his silvery grey eyes. He only saw the faults in himself and the attractiveness in others. He supposed that Remus was only there because he felt sorry for him, because he thought that Sirius needed charity and pity. It appeared that Dumbledore shared these views.

"You mean you want me to stay cooped up in this crumbling tip of a house and not even help out with the Order?" he asked angrily.

"It is for your own good, Sirius. You are in great danger, from the Ministry and Muggle government alike, not to mention Voldemort's followers, who will know by now about you being an Animagus I am sure." Dumbledore said calmly.

"I don't care!" Sirius said "I want to help; I want to fight him! I want to get the man who made my godson an orphan!"

Dumbledore sighed.

"If you truly want to help the Order…"

"I do!" Sirius said, and Dumbledore held up a hand to silence him.

"…if you truly want to help the Order, then you should stay in Headquarters and help us in this respect."

Sirius snorted.

"How would that help?"

"Well… you could clean the house up. Harry will be coming later, as will some others and they will need a place to stay…"

"So I'll be doing bloody house elf duties will I?" he asked bitterly.

"Sit down Sirius." Dumbledore said. Sirius hadn't realised he was standing up.

"Sirius is right." Remus said quietly. Sirius looked at him in surprise.

"He has a right to help out if he wants to. Even if I personally think he would be better off staying where he is safe."

"Thanks Remus." Sirius said, sitting back down. He shot Dumbledore a cold look. Dumbledore sat serenely at the end of the table, examining a cobweb festooned silver goblet.

"Sirius, it is in your best interests that you stay here. Therefore you shall stay here, and I am sure in time you will agree it was the right thing to do. That is my last word. I expect I shall be in touch."

He got to his feet, and swept out of the kitchen, closing the front door behind him.

"Well!" Sirius exploded "He can't really expect me to stay locked up in this god-awful… this…"

He covered his face with his hands.

"Hey, hey…" Remus said soothingly, sliding off his chair and kneeling by Sirius.

"I'm just… fed up… of being treated like… dirt…" he sobbed. Remus hugged Sirius to his chest, murmuring nonsense words in his ears.

"…everybody thinks I'm a… murderer, except… you guys… and most of you… just think I'm _garbage_…"

"I don't think you're garbage, Sirius. I'm your friend. I think you're a wonderful, kind, caring person. And so does Harry, and so does Mad-Eye, and so does Dumbledore."

"No, _he _doesn't." Sirius spat. "_He_ just uses me. _He _was prepared to let the Dementors get me. Even when he knew I was innocent."

"I'm sure that's not true…" Remus comforted.

"…and now he wants me to stay here all the time, _cleaning_ while all of you are making a difference. I might as well still be in Azkaban."

"But if you were, Peter could have hurt Harry." Remus reminded him. "You did a very noble thing."

"Yeah, I suppose…" Sirius muttered. "But it's so annoying."

"I know Siri, I know, but brooding about it won't help. You have to make the best of it."

"Yeah, you're right. As usual." Sirius sighed. He got to his feet and went into the hallway to get his things.

"Come on, I'll show you your room. Let's hope it isn't crawling with Billywigs or something."

"Billywigs are from Australia, Sirius."

"Oh… yeah, I knew that…"

Remus laughed and followed Sirius up to the room he would be staying in.

"We'll be doing the bedrooms first." Sirius said decisively. "When we're cleaning." he added. Remus nodded in agreement.

"When do the Weasleys arrive?" he asked. Sirius groaned.

"In a week... I bet Molly will have all the kids in Ghostbusters gear busting some serious germs."

"Well, won't it be nice to get a little help with the cleaning?" Remus asked, trying not to laugh as Sirius did an accurate impression of Mrs Weasley flicking a duster.

"Yeah, but that woman is still so irritating. Acts like she's Harry's mother, and I'm just some naughty teenager. Gets on my nerves."

Remus smiled.

"Not everybody is against you, you know."

Sirius shrugged.

"I know… sometimes it just feels like they are. I… I miss James." he said quietly. "And Lily… and the way things used to be."

"So do I." Remus sighed. "But at least you aren't in prison any more. You're with people who care about you."

"I missed you as well, you know." Sirius said with a weak smile. "You and Harry are the closest things I have to a family…"

"Thanks Sirius." Remus said quietly. "I missed you too. It was so hard, trying to get on with my life, not knowing if you were innocent or whatever…"

"You weren't sure? You mean… you thought I might have been innocent?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Of course I did. My head was telling me that you must have done it; all the witnesses, hearsay and rumours… but my heart insisted all along that you would never have done a thing like that." Remus said softly.

Sirius swallowed.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" Remus smiled. Sirius pulled a tendril of black hair over his eyes and examined it.

"Checking for split ends?" Remus laughed. Sirius smiled, looked up into Remus' brown eyes. They had little flecks of gold in them, and reminded Sirius of swirls of chocolate. Remus returned his gaze, shifting closer to Sirius over the dusty crimson carpet. Sirius turned away, sitting heavily on the bed. Remus cleared his throat, suddenly very interested in a stain on the peeling wallpaper.

"Um… I think Tonks or somebody is coming later." Sirius said, his throat suddenly very dry. His voice sounded ridiculously high pitched in his head, and he blushed. Remus nodded silently.

"Yeah, I suppose there must be quite a lot of Order members coming to Headquarters. With… guard duty and all."

He cleared his throat again, and left the room, leaving Sirius sitting in silence, staring into space.


	3. Reluctant

**This part of the story is set in the first week of the summer holidays, so Harry hasn't been attacked by Dementors yet. He will arrive in approx. four weeks. WARNING: possible Tonks-bashing in following chapters...**

**Reluctant**

Sure enough, Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody moved into the house the next day, with promises that Kingsley Shacklebolt and Sturgis Podmore would also be coming later.

"Uh, I think Snape might be around as well." Tonks said apologetically. Sirius groaned.

"Come on, Siri. You are both mature adults. I'm sure you can manage to be in the same house with each other…." Remus said.

Sirius looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Remus, if you care to remember, he tried to _kill _us._ Both_ of us. And he was looking _forward _to it. _Relishing _it."

"He wasn't going to kill us, just have the Dementors suck out our…"

"Souls, yeah, I get it." Sirius said, shuddering. "Which is better, how?"

"It isn't." Remus admitted. "It's much worse."

"Exactly." Sirius said. "I don't want him in my house."

Remus sighed and suggested they make a start on the cleaning. Tonks eagerly offered to help, but they hastily declined. Tonks did enough damage without a bottle of Magical Mess Remover.

"That's all right Tonks, you can help Mad-Eye sort out the um… stuff." Sirius said before escaping up the stairs after Remus. They heard her sigh as she went to find Mad-Eye.

"You know, Remus, I get the distinct impression that she likes you." Sirius said, trying to ignore the stabbing pangs of jealousy. Remus raised his eyebrows.

"I highly doubt that."

"But… what if she did? Would you be interested?" Sirius pressed, trying to sound like he was just being a concerned friend. Remus snorted.

"She is much too young."

"Not really. Just suppose."

Remus sighed.

"Even if she did like me, I would not be interested. Happy?"

"Why not?"

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Remus asked quizzically, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't!" Sirius said quickly, waving his wand and charming scrubbing brushes to scour the grimy walls. Remus watched him curiously for a few minutes, tapping the side of his nose thoughtfully.

"So what about you?"

"What about me what?" Sirius asked, blasting cobwebs off the window.

"You know, is there anybody that you like?" Remus enquired. Sirius froze, and turned around slowly.

"Is there anybody _you _like?" he retorted.

"That's not fair, I answered your question. It's my turn to ask now." Remus grinned, directing a jet of soapy water at a particularly resilient stain.

"Well, I don't have to tell the truth, do I? Unlike you, Moony, I happen to be a sensationally good liar." Sirius deadpanned.

"So that's a yes?"

Sirius mimed zipping his lips and Remus sighed.

"You're so hard to read."

The corners of Sirius' mouth twitched.

"Yeah, I'm not a book you know."

"I wish you were, you'd be easier to understand…" Remus said slowly.

"I could say the same for you." Sirius murmured. "But then, you've always been hard to comprehend."

Remus smiled sadly.

"I guess we both have our demons. You always had your family and everything, and I had my … wolf problem. And now… even more." he said mournfully. Sirius nodded silently.

"Still, it would be nice to talk about it sometime." he said. "You know… prison… and everything."

Remus smiled.

"I'm always here to listen." he told his friend kindly.

"Thanks."

They scrubbed silently for a few minutes before Sirius sat back on his heels and examined their handiwork.

"Yeah, I think this room is pretty much done." he said. "Shall we move to the next one?"

By the end of the day, they had thoroughly cleaned a few of the bedrooms. Sirius had ruthlessly thrown out most of the Black heirlooms and photographs, but some, such as those in his brother Regulus' room, were protected by charms. They had discovered a hornet nest in one of them, but a quick Freezing Charm by Remus stopped that from being too much of a problem, and they trooped down the stairs in high spirits, if a little worn out.

"The bedrooms aren't actually all that bad." Sirius said "We may have more problems when it gets to such as the drawing room."

Remus nodded and they went into the kitchen, where Tonks was unwrapping a package of sandwiches.

"Me and Mad-Eye did the kitchen!" she said brightly. Alastor Moody nodded, looking slightly exasperated. Sirius thought it was quite lucky that Mad-Eye had taken a shine to Tonks early on, or he probably would have lost his temper and turned her into a guinea pig.

"When are we getting proper food?" Sirius asked, sitting down and grabbing a sandwich. Remus sat down next to him, taking a sandwich as well and looking enquiringly at Tonks.

"Oh, Kingsley will be bringing it tomorrow. By the way, there might be a few more coming." she said, looking at Remus.

"How many?" Sirius asked, ripping his sandwich in half and shoving it in his mouth.

"Oh, a few." she said vaguely, her eyes still on Remus. Sirius glared at her. To his credit, Remus didn't seem to have noticed. But Sirius would still have willingly strangled Tonks at that moment, even if they were related. She was now jabbering non-stop, fluttering her eyelashes at Remus, who didn't seem to be paying much attention. He looked up from his sandwich to give her a winning smile, which almost knocked her off her seat. She giggled girlishly, touching his arm and flicking her short cerise hair behind one ear.

"Excuse me." Sirius said tartly, pushing his chair back and leaving the room. He didn't think he could stand any more of that. He rushed up the stairs, nearly tripping over a small figure on the stairs.

"Oh, you're alive are you?" he snapped, recognising his mother's house elf. Kreacher's bloodshot eyes widened in shock.

"You…" he croaked "Why are you in mistress' house?"

"It's my house now." Sirius said with savage satisfaction "And you have to do what I damn well say, Kreacher, because I happen to be your master now. Get used to it."

Leaving Kreacher spluttering on the stairs, Sirius stalked into his room and sat down on his bed. A few minutes later there was a tentative knock on his door. He ignored it. Remus poked his head round the door, blinking anxiously.

"Sirius?"

"Oh, torn yourself away, have you?" Sirius said sourly.

"What?"

"Sorry." Sirius sighed. "I'm sorry, Remus."

"It's okay." Remus said. He looked at the space on the bed next to Sirius, hesitating. Sirius patted the space with a faint smile.

"Feel free."

Remus sat down, and looked at Sirius who was leaning forwards, his head in his hands.

"Sirius…?" he asked uncertainly. Sirius scrubbed his eyes furiously, leaning back. Remus reached forwards, stroking Sirius' hair out of his eyes.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" he asked. Sirius shook his head, and Remus sighed.

"If you won't tell me, I can't help you."

"You can't help me anyway." Sirius said curtly.

"If you say so." Remus said.

They sat in silence, Remus looking over at Sirius, who was staring at his hands.

"It's just…" Sirius said suddenly "I'm scared of being left alone. If you marry Tonks…"

Remus shook his head, smiling.

"Sirius, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm not going to leave you, I promise. Well, unless you leave me. Do you promise you won't leave me?"

Sirius looked up, his smoky eyelashes spiky with tears.

"Of course. But I can't ask you to stay with me forever…"

"I want to." Remus said firmly.

"What if you meet somebody? Like…"

"For the last time, I am not interested in Tonks!" Remus said impatiently. "And you are my best friend. You always come first."

"You say that now." Sirius said sadly. "But love will steal you away. It always does. And when you find it, you won't want anything to get in your way. It will eat you up inside."

Remus looked at him oddly.

"So you have found somebody."

"I guess so." Sirius sighed.

"And do they like you back?"

Sirius shook his head unhappily.

"Is that why you've been upset lately?" Remus asked gently.

"Partly." Sirius admitted. "But… other stuff as well."

He shivered as he remembered the dream he had last night; Dementors swooping down on him, nowhere to run, crying out for help, Remus ignoring him and turning his back while the Dementors grew closer…

Remus put his hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"Sirius Black, you are an amazing, hilarious and good looking man. Whoever this person is would be mad not to like you back."

Sirius smiled half-heartedly. He was sure that Remus was only trying to make him feel better, and he was grateful. He liked Remus complimenting him, but he only wished that Remus actually thought that.

"You're only saying that because you're my friend." he said.

"I'm not." Remus said sincerely. There was a noise downstairs and Remus got up.

"That'll be Kingsley and the others. Coming?"

"Nah, I might just stay here." Sirius replied. Remus nodded and left the room. Five minutes later he came back up the stairs and knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" Sirius called.

"Uh, Sirius? You know Tonks said "a few more people might be coming"?"

"…yeah…?"

"Well… there are about fifteen people here. Not including us."

Sirius swore.

"And one of them is Dung." Remus added. Sirius grinned.

"No Snape?" he asked anxiously. Remus shook his head.

"I bet Dung's going to try and set up an illegal goods trade in your house, so be warned." Remus told him. Sirius laughed.

"Oh, I can't wait till Mrs Weasley gets here. The sparks are going to fly…"


	4. Controlling

**Controlling**

"Hey." Remus said, making his way to the kitchen table and sitting down next to Sirius, who was wolfing down a plate of burnt bacon and toast.

"Hey." Sirius responded.

"I just got an owl from Molly; she, the kids, Arthur and Hermione are arriving later today. They decided they might as well come a little early and help with the Order."

"Good, Molly can cook in future." Sirius said, looking at the scorched breakfast that Emmeline Vance had prepared. Emmeline grinned at him from over the cauldron of congealing porridge, which she offered to Remus.

"No thanks, I'm not hungry." Remus said hastily. Sirius snorted and Remus threw him a reproachful look.

"When's Harry coming?" Sirius asked. Remus hesitated.

"Well… I'm not exactly sure. Dumbledore seems keen that he stayed with his aunt and uncle for a bit first."

"What? Why?"

Remus shrugged.

"I'm sure he has his reasons."

"Yeah." Sirius said darkly "He just likes locking people up."

"Now you know that isn't true." Remus said "Dumbledore's actions are unfair, but there must be a reason for it. Have you been writing to Harry?"

"Yeah, told him to be careful, don't do anything rash… I know _I_ would if I was locked up in a muggle house with _those _people…"

Remus sighed.

"I know you wish that you could have Harry live with you here…"

"But why can't I??" Sirius asked "Why is Dumbledore so insistent on making his life a misery? I know what it's like living with a family who don't understand you, who bully you. It's hell. I ended up running away to live with James because I hated them so much. Harry already ran away once, in his third year. If he does it again he'll be in a lot of danger, now that Voldemort is back."

"I know." Remus said "I don't understand it either. But we must trust in Dumbledore."

"Yeah, well I'm finding that a bit hard at the moment." Sirius grumbled. "And I wish the paper would stop picking on him. Ministry morons…"

"They're just trying to compensate for all the rumours he and Dumbledore started." Remus said "Fudge is terrified of the very idea that Voldemort may have returned, if he makes Harry seem unstable then who's going to believe his story?"

Sirius muttered something that sounded like "bastard" and Remus smiled.

"We've got the Order meeting before dinner tonight, are you going to come?" he asked. "Uh, Snape _might_ be coming, just for the meeting."

Sirius groaned.

"Nothing would give me more pleasure." he sighed and Remus laughed. They were ambushed at the kitchen door by Tonks, clutching a stack of blackened toast.

"Are you feeling okay, Remus? You didn't eat anything." she said anxiously, proffering the food.

"I'm fine." Remus insisted, pushing the food away. Her face fell and she went back to sit at the table. Sirius smirked despite himself, and followed Remus upstairs. Remus was rummaging in the trunk he had brought with him.

"Aha!" he announced, holding up a bar of chocolate. Sirius laughed.

"Still obsessed with chocolate after all these years…"

Remus grinned, unwrapping the bar.

"Is it good for you to eat chocolate so early in the day?" Sirius asked mock-anxiously. "Remus, you have a problem."

Remus stuck out his tongue childishly, snapping part of the bar off. He stowed the rest of the chocolate inside his trunk lovingly and Sirius rolled his eyes with a smile.

"You haven't changed a bit!" he laughed.

"I could say the same for you." Remus replied. Sirius chuckled.

"Yeah right. I know that I haven't looked the same since Azkaban…" he sighed. "I feel weaker somehow, and more afraid."

"You aren't weak." Remus insisted "And being afraid is human. And as for your looks…"

Remus' eyes slid over Sirius' angular features and the muscles that were slowly creeping back to his arms and chest.

"… you've got nothing to worry about." he finished. Sirius flushed.

Suddenly somebody knocked on the door, and Tonks peered around it.

"The Weasleys are here, Sirius." she said, staring at Remus. Sirius felt like yelling "_I'm over here_!"

Instead he thanked her politely, and went to show them their rooms. Hermione and Ron were gazing open mouthed at the dark hall, and the rest of the Weasleys were chatting to Order members. Fred and George were whispering to Mundungus Fletcher, clearly trying to buy something off him. When they saw Sirius, they beamed and waved. Sirius returned the gesture with a smile. Hermione squealed and hugged him and then Remus, who looked surprised but pleased. They shook hands with everybody, and then led them to their rooms.

"It's so big!" Ron gasped, staring around at the numerous doors on the first landing. "So many rooms…"

"Yeah, and we have to clean them all." Sirius said.

"Well, we'll all chip in." Molly Weasley said briskly. Sirius could see her mentally pulling on a pair of rubber gloves. "The children are too young to go to the meetings anyway…"

Fred, George, Ron and Ginny groaned.

"Mum!" the twins chorused.

"No buts." she said firmly. "Now go and unpack."

They slouched off to their rooms, scowling. Hermione followed, carrying the wicker basket containing her ginger cat Crookshanks. Crookshanks was spitting and clawing at the inside of the basket, but started purring when he saw Sirius. Sirius smiled.

"Can I look after him for a while?" he asked. Hermione opened the basket and Crookshanks leapt lightly out, meowing happily. Sirius scooped him up and scratched him behind the ears. Remus stroked the cat's head, the tips of his fingers brushing lightly against Sirius' chest. Sirius practically purred himself.

"Now." Mrs Weasley said, clapping her hands "About this cleaning. I see the bedrooms and kitchen are done, which leaves…?"

Sighing, Sirius reeled off the rest of the rooms in the house.

"All right, I think we'll make a start on the bathroom after lunch." she said, pursing her lips. "Excuse me."

She bustled past them, towards the kitchen, followed by Arthur Weasley, Bill and Charlie.

"Told you." Sirius muttered. Remus grinned. Two identical red heads peered around a doorway.

"Psst, Sirius!"

They beckoned to Sirius, who entered the room, nonplussed. He and Remus sat down on one of the beds, and the twins on the other.

"Now, what's going on?" Fred asked in a low voice. "Why all the meetings?"

Sirius opened his mouth to answer, but Remus said quickly

"Only those in the Order are allowed to know… confidential… sorry boys."

"We want to join!" George said hotly.

"Maybe later on." Remus sighed "You're mother insists you do not sign up yet; she thinks you are too young."

"Oh." the twins said, disappointed.

"What's going on?" Ron asked, pushing the door open, closely followed by Hermione and Ginny.

"Don't you ever knock?" Fred asked

"Very rude." George agreed

"Never mind that!" Ron said eagerly "Is somebody going to tell us..."

"No." Remus said firmly. Ron's face fell.

"Personally, I think they _should _be told, Remus." Sirius argued. Remus shook his head

"It is not up to us, Sirius; it is up to Arthur and Molly."

"Please, Sirius!" Ginny pleaded "Professor Lupin…"

Sirius sniggered, and Remus glowered at him.

"Ooh, Professor Lupin's sulking." Sirius teased, nudging him. Crookshanks wriggled out of his grasp and ran over to Ginny, who was dangling a Butterbeer cork on a string for him to play with.

"I am not sulking!" Remus laughed, nudging him back. "Ginny, this isn't school; you don't have to call me Professor."

"Okay," Ginny said. They heard footsteps outside, and Fred hissed

"Its mum, probably trying to check you aren't telling us anything."

"Well she has nothing to worry about." Remus insisted "Since we aren't going to tell you anything."

Eventually they could hear Mrs Weasley going back downstairs.

"You're boring, Moony." Sirius pouted, poking Remus.

"Ow! Act your age, Padfoot!" Remus protested. Fred sat up straight.

"Moony…?" he asked in wonder

"Padfoot…?" George gasped. They stared from Remus to Sirius.

"You're not…"

"They aren't…"

Sirius and Remus exchanged confused looks.

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs!" Fred said.

"You wrote the Marauders Map!" George said excitedly

"You're our heroes!" they finished together. Sirius laughed.

"So Prongs…"

"Harry's dad."

"And Wormtail?"

"He… uh… left the group." Remus said.

"Whoah…!" the twins sighed.

"Hear that, Remus?" Sirius grinned "We're famous!"

"For the wrong reasons!" Remus said playfully, pushing Sirius over.

"Oh, come on Remus, you enjoyed it! Remember when we dyed Snape's hair pink…"

The corners of Remus' mouth twitched.

"And when we spiked all the teachers' pumpkin juice with Firewhisky…."

Fred and George laughed with delight, and Remus struggled to keep a straight face.

"You're just a little trouble maker at heart, aren't you, Remus?" Sirius teased.

Remus smiled unwillingly, giving Sirius a light-hearted punch on the shoulder. Sirius groaned, pretending to keel over onto the bed. Everybody laughed. Hermione gave Sirius an odd look, then shook her head and joined in.

"Lunch's ready!" Mrs Weasley called from outside the door. They followed her downstairs, and tucked into the chicken and vegetable pie she had made.

"More potatoes?" Molly offered. Sirius scooped up a few, dumping them on his plate. He met Remus' eyes and smiled. Hermione was watching them both like an eagle, eyes narrowed slightly. Feeling uneasy, Sirius bolted down the rest of his food and left the table.

That afternoon they worked on the bathroom. Mrs Weasley had set each of them to work on a specific part. Sirius and Remus had got the bath. Remus wiped his forehead, grunting with the effort of scrubbing mould off the taps. Sirius moaned, heat crawling over his skin at the sight of sweat trickling down Remus' face. Luckily it was quickly doused by one of the taps bursting, spraying water over both of them. Sirius swore, grabbing his wand and sealing the metal. He looked at Remus, whose clothes were sticking to his skin, his hair plastered to his face.

"You're all wet." he giggled. Remus grinned

"So are you," he told him, wiping a bead of water off Sirius' nose. Sirius smiled, trying to stop his eyes drifting down to Remus' trousers.

Molly stood over them, tapping her foot.

"When you two have stopped behaving like infants, maybe you'd like to get on with the cleaning?" she asked bossily.

"Yes Sir!" Sirius said, saluting. Remus laughed. Sirius shook his head like a dog, spraying Remus with water.

"What's that drying spell?" he muttered, trying to remember. Remus shrugged

"Maybe we should just get changed."

He stood up but slipped in a puddle of water and fell on top of Sirius. Fred and George laughed uncontrollably.

"Sorry, Sirius!" Remus muttered awkwardly.

"No problem." Sirius groaned, his hair slicked over his eyes.

"Here." Remus murmured, pushing it over his forehead. His hand drifted downwards, tracing Sirius' collarbone with one finger. Then he seemed to realise that they were being watched by six people, five of which were still in school, and the other of which was a bossy totalitarian. He got unsteadily to his feet, pulling Sirius with him.

"We're going to get changed." Sirius informed Mrs Weasley, who sighed loudly as if they had planned this.

Fred and George gave them both a thumbs-up behind their mother's back, and grinned. Sirius collapsed in the corridor outside the bathroom, giggling uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?" Remus demanded, standing over him.

"Remus…."

"What?"

"Remus."

"What??"

"Remus!"

"What?!"

"Nothing." Sirius said, choking with laughter.

"You weirdo." Remus sighed. "Come on; better get changed before Molly's head explodes."

They staggered to their respective rooms, dripping water all over the corridor. A few minutes later, Sirius came out, his hair still damp, but wearing warm, dry clothes.

"You ready, Remus?" he asked, knocking on the werewolf's door.

"Nearly!"

When Remus finally emerged, his brown hair towelled dry, wearing a white shirt and black pants, Sirius was sitting on the floor, idly fiddling with a rip in the carpet.

"There you are, you take longer than a girl, Remus." he smiled. Remus' eyes travelled down Sirius' legs which were encased in black leather. Sirius felt himself going red as he stood up and followed Remus back to the bathroom.

"The Controller awaits." he sighed.


	5. Confirming

**Confirming**

The next morning, Hermione cornered Sirius as he made his way to the toilet.

"We need to talk." she said. She seized his arm, pulling him to her room.

"Ow, what are you doing?" he yelped.

"Sit." she ordered. "Now."

He sat, staring at the fifteen year old who was looking down on him, her hands on her hips.

"So." she said. She sat down beside him.

"So?" he asked.

"Professor Lupin." she said.

"Remus? What about him?" Sirius asked in a mock innocent voice. She sighed.

"For goodness sake Sirius, I am not stupid, nor am I blind. You love him."

"I don't! You're crazy!" Sirius insisted "Obliviate!"

"That's your toothbrush, Sirius."

"Oh yeah… well… you're crazy!"

"So you deny it?"

"Of course I do!" he insisted

"You're blushing."

"No I'm not!" he said, feeling his cheeks redden.

Hermione sighed.

"Just admit it. I know it's true anyway."

"Fine, it's true." he said, reluctantly. "Happy?"

"Yup." she said brightly. "Told him yet?"

"Obviously not."

"Well, you should. How long has it been since you realised?"

"Uh, since fourth year?"

She stared at him.

"Whoah, that's a long time."

She jumped off the bed.

"Is that it?" he asked suspiciously "No blackmail? No ultimatum? No "tell him or I will"?"

"Nope!" she said cheerily.

She swept out of the room, humming under her breath. He shook his head in confusion.

"Oh and by the way." she added, looking back through the doorway "I was actually planning on "tell him or I'll tell Fred, George, Ron and Mrs Weasley." But I decided you're going to tell him yourself anyway."

"I am?" Sirius asked blankly.

"Of course you are. Well, I've seen you around him. You can't keep your hands to yourself."

"Rather like you and Ron." he retorted. She blushed, and closed the door behind her. Sirius sighed, his head in his hands. He wasn't planning on telling Remus, ever. He valued their friendship too much. Maybe he _should_ put a memory charm on Hermione…

He went down to the kitchen where Remus was eating a stack of pancakes smothered in chocolate sauce.

_Tell him! _Hermione mouthed. He glared at her.

"Sorry, Sirius." Mrs Weasley said "That's the last of the pancakes..."

"It's fine." he said, scowling. He loved pancakes.

"Here, have mine." Remus said "I know you love pancakes."

Sirius' heart melted. He was such a sap…

"No, you have them." he said "I couldn't…"

"You can and you will!" Remus insisted, pushing the plate towards him.

"No, really!"

"Yes, really!"

Their eyes met, and they smiled simultaneously.

"Share?" Remus asked.

"Okay." Sirius agreed. He grabbed a knife and fork and started to eat.

"Mmm… pancakes!"

"Mmm… chocolate!" Remus laughed, dunking his own chunk of pancake into a puddle of syrup and popping it into his mouth. Sirius edged closer to him and whispered in his ear

"If Hermione tells you anything, ignore her."

"Okay…" he whispered back, looking confused. He had a small smear of chocolate on his cheek, which Sirius wiped off with his shirt cuff. Hermione sat back in her seat, looking smug.

Sirius and Remus finished up their pancakes, and listened interestedly to Mundungus and Fred bartering over a pack of frozen Ashwinder eggs that Dung had bought from a woman in Iceland. So far the price was at fifteen galleons.

"What do they want Ashwinder eggs for?" Remus asked.

"Something for their joke shop."

"What joke shop??"

"The one nobody knows about."

Remus eyed him suspiciously

"Then how do _you _know about it?"

Sirius tapped the side of his nose.

"People trust me with these things." he said with a wink. Remus scowled at him, but his eyes were twinkling.

"We aren't Marauders anymore, Sirius." he said. Sirius gasped dramatically.

"Don't even say that!"

"Well it's true!"

"No, no, no!" Sirius insisted childishly, shaking his head. He spotted Tonks pouting over at the other side of the table and grinned evilly. He supposed she was getting sulky because Remus wasn't paying her any attention. He could sympathise with the whole unrequited love thing, but in his mind, the less time Remus spent with Tonks, the more time he would spend with Sirius. This was definitely a good thing. Remus made all the nasty angsty feelings burst into a million technicolour butterflies that fluttered around Sirius' brain and made him happy.

Remus smiled, reaching out and ruffling Sirius' hair.

"Sorry Sirius, but those days are over."

"No they aren't." Sirius grumbled. "Never over. Forever. Remember?"

Remus eyed him suspiciously.

"You aren't going to…"

Sirius stood up, placing his hand on his heart.

"I solemnly swear that I, Sirius Orion Black, will to the end of my days, prank, pilfer and plunder, manage mischief and be relentlessly loyal to my friends. Remus?"

Remus sighed. Everybody looked at him expectantly.

"…I shall be forever up to no good." he rushed.

"I knew you hadn't forgotten." Sirius beamed.

"Sirius you really should set a better example to the children!" Mrs Weasley huffed. Remus glared at Sirius who smiled inanely before sitting down.

"Yeah… Sirius." Remus muttered when Mrs Weasley turned back to the washing up.

"Who's childish now?" laughed Sirius, getting to his feet.

"Yeah well, I bet_ you _don't know what assonance means!" Remus retorted. Sirius blinked. No, Remus was right, he had never heard of assonance.

Remus followed him upstairs and watched him drawing the curtains in his room.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Getting changed." Sirius told him, gesturing to his dressing gown. "Are you going to stay?"

"Oh yes, I'll just stand and watch you strip off." Remus said with a smile.

"Fine by me." Sirius grinned. Remus laughed and left the room. Sirius came out a few minutes later to see Remus lounging against the wall.

"Boo!" he shouted. Remus started, smiling when he saw Sirius.

"We seem to be spending quite a lot of time waiting outside rooms for each other." he observed. Sirius nodded, ducking his head as he considered the werewolf. Remus had got changed earlier that morning and was wearing a white shirt and black tie, with contrasted with Sirius' black shirt and white tie. He also smelt of what appeared to be aftershave. He wasn't… wasn't trying to impress some girl, was he? He had denied stringently any interest in Tonks, and most of the others in the Order were too old. Who could it be? Sirius racked his brains, hoping desperately that they were taken/gay/terminally ill.

Remus looked nervous; he was smoothing down his shirt and adjusting his tie. Sirius glowered at him.

"Hot date, Remus?"

Remus smiled.

"I wish."

Sirius almost fell over. He said I wish! He said I WISH!! So he _was_ trying to impress somebody! Well Sirius would just have to make sure that this mystery girl stayed as far from Remus as possible. He glared at the imaginary mystery girl. He bet she was blonde and intellectual and knew what assonance was. Remus stretched, yawning widely.

"Going to the bathroom..." he said.

"Okay." Sirius said. He followed Remus to the bathroom door, and waited outside like a bouncer at a nightclub or a guard dog. Fred and George passed, deep in discussion.

"Hey Sirius!" Fred grinned

"Thanks for the Glumbumble treacle you sold us by the way!" George added. Sirius winked at them

"Not a problem. Anything to cause trouble for the teachers at Hogwarts…"

They all laughed, and Fred and George started to walk off.

"Hey, hey wait a second!" he called "What's assonance?"

"What's what?" they asked together. He sighed.

"Never mind."

When Remus had finished in the bathroom, Sirius followed him down to the kitchen to talk to Mr Weasley. Ron and Hermione were playing chess at the table. Hermione was doing dreadfully; her queen, both bishops, both knights, and a rook, along with countless pawns, had fallen victim to Ron's pieces and she hadn't seemed to realize that she could put Ron in checkmate in four moves. Sirius sat beside Ron who was smiling broadly as he directed his knight to obliterate Hermione's other rook. Hermione groaned, holding her hands up in defeat.

"I give up…"

Ron punched the air with a joyful whoop, and Sirius laughed. Hermione stood up with mustered dignity, and started rummaging in the cupboard for some tea.

"Ron, what's assonance?" Sirius asked in a low voice.

"Huh?" Ron asked, his mouth gaping as he watched Hermione bend down to pick up a cup she had knocked off the table.

"Forget about it." Sirius said irritably. "When's Harry coming?"

"I don't know." Ron replied miserably "Hermione reckons he's going to do something stupid if Dumbledore keeps him locked up all summer."

"She's right." Sirius said. "I might write to him today actually; I haven't done in a while. He hasn't replied to my last one, but the muggles sounded pretty pis…"

He caught Mrs Weasley's eye and said quickly

"… annoyed with all the letters he was getting. Maybe they've stopped him writing. Or maybe the letters got intercepted."

A look of dawning comprehension appeared on Ron's face.

"Oh yeah… that makes sense." he said slowly. Hermione snorted as she began to pour water in the kettle.

"There's some parchment and ink in that drawer; I saw Mad-Eye putting some in before breakfast." she told Sirius, who thanked her and grabbed some out of the drawer. He dipped his quill into the ink bottle and paused. Dumbledore had stressed how important it was not to give anything away, so he always tried to be as cryptic yet helpful as possible.

_Dear Harry _he wrote, his tongue between his teeth. _I hope you are well._

He paused, staring at the parchment and wondering what to say.

_I know you must be annoyed right now, believe me, Fawkes' master has been getting on a lot of our nerves lately (especially mine) but we will see each other shortly, I am sure. Have faith! Moony is well and as chocolate obsessed as ever._

He smiled as he remembered the letter he had received from Harry last year about Remus forcing them to eat chocolate to help against Dementors.

_Keep your chin up and your nose clean. Hope to see you soon, Snuffles._

He read through his letter, and then added

_Ps. what's assonance?_

One of the tawny owls they had bought for the Order's use was perched on a candle bracket, so Sirius lifted it down and tied the scroll of parchment to its leg. He sat back down to see Hermione and Ron arguing about something.

"It was a Jarvey, Ronald, not a Dugbog. A Dugbog is something completely different."

"No, I know they are Dugbogs not Jarveys." Ron insisted firmly.

"What are you two arguing about now?" Remus asked, sliding into the chair next to Sirius.

"Ronald says that his cousin was savaged by a Dugbog. It resembled a large ferret and shouted "get stuffed, ginger" before biting him."

"That would be a Jarvey, not a Dugbog." Remus said. Hermione sat back in her chair looking triumphant. Ron looked sulky.

"Yeah, all right, you were right, as usual." he grumbled. Remus laughed.

"You fall out about the strangest things." he said. Sirius smiled

"Remember when you wouldn't talk to me for half an hour because I dripped ink on your copy of "Gone with the Wind"?"

Remus reddened as Ron and Hermione roared with laughter.

"Yeah, well, remember the time when I wouldn't come out at midnight to raid the kitchens because we had our OWL the next day…?"

"You tied yourself to your bed." Sirius grinned

"Yeah and then you had a tantrum and stole all my chocolate." Remus reminded him.

"And then _you _had a tantrum." Sirius recalled.

"Did not!" Remus protested. Sirius laughed.

"Dug yourself into a deeper hole there…"

"Remember James' stag night?" Remus said quietly. Sirius swallowed. They had been at James' house, drinking themselves stupid. He closed his eyes and remembered…

"_Another Firewhisky?" James giggled, leaning on his bed and swinging a bottle at Peter, who had already had way too many. Sirius watched them amusedly, as Peter slopped drink down his front. Sirius could most definitely hold his drink… unlike his friends. James was practically at the standing on the table and singing stage and Peter was almost horizontal. Peter had probably had the least, but it seemed to be affecting him worse. Next to Sirius, Remus was the least drunk, but he was still more than a little tipsy._

"_Let's play dare!" Sirius suggested. James sat upright, the bottles on his lap rolling onto the floor and out of sight. _

"_Yeah, okay!" he said enthusiastically. "Yeah… yeah...your turn first!"_

"_Alright, bring it on." Sirius grinned, getting to his feet and pirouetting on the spot. He over balanced and sprawled onto James' bed._

"_You… uh… you gotta…" James said, trying to sort through his inebriated mind for a suitable dare. "Kiss Remus! Yeah!"_

_He and Peter giggled madly, and Sirius looked at Remus who raised an eyebrow._

"_Do it!" James slurred, giving Remus a slight push towards Sirius._

"_Wait, ya mean a proper kiss, or just like a… uh…" Sirius asked._

"_Yeah… yeah… proper kiss! C'mon, do it! Do it, do it, do it," James chanted. Peter copied him, a little out of time, eventually subsiding into mumbles. Sirius gulped, looking at the guy he had loved since school. Remus looked steadily back, sitting down beside Sirius. Hesitantly, Sirius leaned forwards. Remus did likewise. Then there was a sickening retching from behind. Peter had just thrown up on the carpet. By the time the mess had been cleared up, James had forgotten all about the dare, and Sirius wasn't as stupid as to press the matter…_

"What happened at James' stag night?" Ron asked eagerly.

"Nothing." Sirius said. It was the truth after all. Nothing had happened. But he wished it had. Ron was now looking at Remus.

"Professor Lupin?"

Sirius smirked and Remus sighed, smiling.

"Please guys, call me Remus."

"You never asked me to call you Remus!" Sirius pouted.

"You've always called me Remus!" Remus laughed.

"Well maybe I should call you Professor…" Sirius suggested evilly.

"Well maybe I'll put you in detention if you don't behave." Remus shot back

"I'd like to see you try!" Sirius laughed. Hermione was smirking at them, and when Remus stood up and went over to a dresser to get some plans, Hermione darted to Sirius and asked

"Told him?"

"No!" Sirius hissed.

"Why not?"

"… because! I thought you were meant to be smart!"

"I am!" Hermione said in a hurt voice.

"Well then. I just don't want to."

"Fine, fine." she said annoyingly.

"Hey, Hermione? What's assonance?"

She blinked.

"Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in non-rhyming words." she recited. "For example, room and moon. They don't rhyme, but the vowel sounds are the same. It can rhyme, in cases such as find and kind, but it isn't mandatory."

He beamed at her.

"Thanks!"

The mystery girl stood no chance now.


	6. Interaction

**Interaction **

A few days later, Dumbledore came for another meeting. Unfortunately, so did Snape.

"Ah, Black. Wish I could say that it's lovely to see you again, but that would be a lie." he sneered, sweeping through the doorway. "How's the cleaning going?"

"The cleaning is going fine." Sirius said through gritted teeth. "As for lies, isn't that what you Slytherins were best at?"

"So where is your pet werewolf?" Snape snarled "I'm surprise that he isn't at your heels as usual…"

"Remus is in the kitchen." Sirius replied, resisting the urge to jinx Snape

"Oh I see. With young Nymphadora is he?"

Sirius glared at him. Clearly even Snape had picked up on Tonks' obsession.

"No. She is at her parents' house."

Tonks had gone home the night before, although Sirius suspected she would be returning.

"Ah, relief for you, I dare say. Not having to keep your wolf on its leash. I would have thought that a pureblood would have better taste, but then, it is you we are talking about..."

Sirius reached for his wand, but Remus, who had appeared in the doorway to the kitchen just in time, stepped forwards and said sharply

"Don't, Sirius."

"The overgrown bat insulted you!" Sirius growled "I won't stand for that!"

Remus looked touched, and Snape's lip curled.

"Touching…"

"It's not worth it, Sirius." Remus told him as Sirius raised his wand.

"Yes, Lupin, restrain your animal." Snape hissed. "I really don't know who the beast is between you two."

"Listen, _Snivellus_. While you're in my house, you don't speak to either of us like that." Sirius snarled "Or Harry and his friends for that matter. Keep a civil tongue in your head or I'll slice it off."

He gave his new wand a twitch. Snape sneered at him.

"Is that a threat, Black?"

"Yeah, it is." Sirius returned. "I don't want to speak to you at all. Dumbledore may trust you now, but in my opinion, once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater. You've only been in my house for two meetings and already it stinks of your evil…"

"Are you sure that isn't the smell of your house?" Snipe cut across smoothly "I seem to remember Walburga being quite the…"

"Bitch." Sirius interrupted "In my opinion, none of them are my relatives, so insulting them doesn't bother me. Not mum, not dad, and not Death Eater Regulus."

A muscle in Snape's jaw pulsed

"Regulus Black was twice the man you'll ever be!"

"And why's that?" Sirius asked "Because he thought all Mudbloods were scum, just like you do?"

"No!" Snape snarled, pulling out his wand. He looked furiously at the man in front of him, so like Regulus, but so different. They had the same eyes, wild and passionate and wonderful. He hated that Sirius reminded him so much of the boy who had helped him get over the loss of Lily, just to be killed himself, too early. Much too early. He knew that Regulus and Sirius, although they had the same eyes, and frown, and the same black hair, were as different as chalk and cheese. But he still felt like whenever Sirius looked at him, it was Regulus back again. Maybe that was why he hated the man so much, on top of everything else. He reminded him of yet another wonderful thing he had once had, before it too was taken from him.

"Touched a nerve, have I?" Sirius asked softly "Well, you don't insult my friends, and I won't insult yours."

Snape sneered at him, and left, his cloak swishing behind him. He disappeared into the kitchen, where some of the other Order members were already gathered.

"Come on." Sirius muttered to Remus, his anger ebbing away now that Snape had gone. "I want to speak to Dumbledore."

They went to the study, where Dumbledore was talking to Kingsley Shacklebolt. Kingsley left, nodding to the two of them, and Sirius entered.

"Sirius." Dumbledore said in greeting. "Remus."

"When is Harry coming?" Sirius demanded. Dumbledore sighed.

"Sirius…"

"You can't lock him up all summer!"

"Sirius…"

"He's going to get himself hurt!"

"Sirius…"

"It's wrong!"

"Sirius!" Dumbledore said loudly. "Harry will be coming to Grimmauld Place! When I say!"

Sirius pouted like a sulky teenager.

"All right…" he muttered grudgingly, scuffing his shoe along the ground. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, in a way that told Sirius that the matter was closed. Sirius left, Remus by his side.

"There must be a perfectly good…"

"Yeah, I know." Sirius grumbled. Remus slung a comforting arm around his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it." he smiled, and Sirius found himself not worrying about it. He slipped his arm around Remus' waist, and they walked into the kitchen. Snape was sat in a corner by himself, and smirked when he saw them. He made an immature and rude gesture behind Mrs Weasley's back. Sirius stuck his middle finger up at the greasy haired man, and they sat down with Fred and George.

"I bet you two Galleons," Fred was saying

"All right, you're on." George replied.

"What are you betting one?" asked Remus.

"Nothing!" they said quickly.

"You know you guys will have to go when the meeting starts." Sirius said. They grimaced in unison.

"Will you tell us what you talk about?" George begged

"Did I tell you last time you asked?" Sirius enquired. The twins shook their heads and with one last, baleful look at Sirius and Remus, they slunk out of the kitchen to find Ginny, Ron and Hermione. They peeped back around the doorframe as they left, to see Remus laughing at a joke Sirius had told, and Sirius looking very pleased with himself.

"I should have bet more than two Galleons." Fred muttered.

After the meeting, a very flustered Mrs Weasley came up to Sirius, twisting her apron in her hands.

"Sirius, we have a slight problem."

"What?"

"Well, you may have noticed that we have quite a lot of Order members at Headquarters at the moment."

Sirius glanced over at Charlie Weasley who was talking to Minerva McGonagall and Tonks, who had arrived in the middle of the meeting.

"So? Most of them just Apparate home after the meetings."

Molly bit her lip.

"There are about ten Death Eaters outside. Nobody can go anywhere."

"What?" Sirius yelped, frantically calculating the number of bedrooms in Grimmauld Place.

"This is Snape's doing!" he said murderously.

"What is?" Remus asked, appearing behind Sirius. Sirius quickly filled him in on the situation. Remus' face became grave.

"Well, they can't go home, that much is clear."

Sirius swallowed.

"If Ron shares with Fred and George, and Bill shares with Charlie…"

"Yes, yes, but we need two more rooms!" Mrs Weasley said frantically

"I'll sleep on the couch, Molly." Tonks offered. Molly beamed at her.

"Thank you, dear. Remus, would you mind going in with Sirius?"

Sirius looked blankly at her.

"But there's only one bed in my room."

Mrs Weasley wrung her hands

"I know, but there aren't any other beds spare, and you two have known each other for longer…"

Sirius looked at Remus, trying to read his expression.

"But…" he started again. Mrs Weasley frowned at him. He realised that he couldn't really make a fuss; it wasn't as if he could explain why he didn't want to share a bed with Remus.

"… my bed's small." he finished lamely.

"Well, you can enlarge it, can't you?" Mrs Weasley asked briskly "You don't have a wand for nothing, you know."

She started to make a soup for everybody. Sirius stood up and left the room. Remus raised an arm to pull him back to his seat, but let him go. Sirius made his way to where Fred, George, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were playing Exploding Snap.

"The meeting's over. Dinner will be ready in a minute." he told them.

"Has Snape gone?" Fred asked eagerly. Sirius sighed

"No… everybody has to stay the night."

The twins, Ron and Ginny all groaned loudly at the prospect of having their Potions master stay the night, and Sirius grinned.

"But why?"

"Ask your mother." he told them. They followed him downstairs, the Weasleys' and Sirius glaring pointedly at Snape. Remus looked up hopefully and smiled as Sirius sat down beside him. Molly started handing out bowls of soup, and everybody began to eat, not an easy task with the amount of people that were crammed around the table. Fred and George were discussing whether it would be possible to sneak one of their new products into Snape's soup without their mother noticing. From what Sirius could hear, they were considering a kind of sweet that made you talk in limericks for a day. He would have dearly loved them to go through with it, but unfortunately they were under Molly' beady eye all through dinner. Afterwards, Snape went off to his room so there was no possibility of any pranking at all.

"So, mum tells us you two are sleeping together tonight." Fred said with a wink.

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"You kids…"

"No, _you _kids!" George retorted. "Now kids, no hanky panky under the bed sheets."

"I think Remus is in for a Siriusly good night!" Fred chortled, nudging George.

The evening came all too quickly in Sirius' opinion, and soon people started to go off to bed. Soon only Mrs Weasley, Sirius and Remus were up. Tonks had made up a bed on the sofa, and was already asleep. Sirius yawned, which set Remus off. Mrs Weasley smiled.

"Time for bed I think. I'm going, anyway."

Remus looked at Sirius.

"Wanna go up?"

Sirius shrugged in which he dearly hoped was an indifferent manner. They went upstairs, and wordlessly agreed that Remus would get changed first and Sirius second. When they were both in their vests and boxers, they stood uncertainly in Sirius' room, staring at Sirius' small bed.

"Okay…" Remus said, flicking his wand. The bed swelled until it was as large as a double bed.

"That's as big as I can get it." he said apologetically. "Otherwise it'll break through the wall."

"Uh, yeah, it's fine." Sirius replied, clearing his throat. Remus raised his eyebrow, and then got into the bed and closed his eyes. He peeped up between his eyelashes at Sirius, who hadn't moved.

"You coming?"

"Sure..."

Sirius hopped between the covers. He scooted as far away from Remus as possible, and turned out the lights.

"Sirius?" Remus asked, shuffling closer to the dark-haired Animagus.

"Yeah…?"

Remus fidgeted, chewing at the skin on his thumb.

"It's just… you've been acting a little tense around me."

"No I haven't." Sirius said quickly.

"Sometimes you are, sometimes you aren't." Remus sighed. "Have I done anything wrong?"

"No, of course not!" Sirius smiled. Remus gnawed on his thumb nail nervously.

"Well, you know, it's just, certain feelings…" he started. He coughed, his throat feeling like sandpaper. "Maybe I've fallen in love and maybe it's unrequited. Maybe I should just give up, but I just can't…. I'm sorry."

Sirius swallowed. It looked like the mystery girl had won.

"Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in non-rhyming words." he said.

"What?" Remus choked.

Sirius sighed.

"You said you bet I didn't know what it meant. Well, I do. And I thought that maybe you would only date some smart blonde who knew what it meant."

"Uh… were you listening to what I just said at all?"

"Yeah, you were telling me you're in love with some girl, and apologizing to me because you know I like you." Sirius said coldly. Remus laughed in relief

"No! I was telling you that I'm in love with _you_, you silly bastard!"

"You were?" Sirius said, a stupid smile spreading across his face. "Good."

"Why is it good?" Remus asked teasingly.

"Because I love you too." Sirius said. Remus smiled, and Sirius grabbed the werewolf around the waist, kissing him furiously on the mouth. Remus tilted his head back, moaning as Sirius ran his tongue against the brunette's teeth. When they finally broke apart, Sirius' arms tangled in Remus' hair, and Remus' arms wrapped tightly around the other man, Remus gasped

"Now I've wanted to do _that _for a very long time."

"Ditto." Sirius purred, stroking Remus' jaw and enjoying his lover's sighs of pleasure.

They fell asleep in each others arms, and Sirius had a peaceful night. No nightmares, no Dementors, no fear, only Remus.


	7. Dark

**Dark**

When Sirius woke up the next morning, he wondered whether last night had all been a wonderful dream. Then he became aware of the sleeping werewolf in his bed, their legs entwined, their heartbeats pulsing as one. Still he wouldn't believe that the magnificent being snuffling gently on top of him could really love him.

Remus woke, unfolding from his slumber like a bar of chocolate being unwrapped, stretching luxuriously and yawning.

"Hello." he said, and Sirius smiled as Remus gave him a good morning kiss.

"It wasn't a dream then." he observed. Remus laughed.

"If it was your dream, I wouldn't have done that, would I? And if it was my dream, you would have seemed a lot more surprised at your best friend snogging you. And if it was both of our dreams…"

"…then it wouldn't matter anyway, because we both feel the way we do and whether it was a dream or real life, I would love you."

Remus responded by kissing Sirius again.

"Are you going to tell everybody, or shall we keep it a secret?" he asked breathlessly

"I want to tell Harry. But I want to tell him face to face, not by a letter. And I don't want everybody else to know before him." Sirius replied

Remus nodded sagely.

"Then we should keep everybody else in the dark until Harry arrives."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." Sirius mused. "But Hermione knows I have feelings for you; guessed somehow. We will have to be very discreet. I don't think anybody else suspects anything."

"Okay, how do I look?" Remus asked, putting on a casual face. Sirius snorted

"Like you're on weed."

Remus pushed him out of the bed, and Sirius landed with a thud on the carpet. He glared up at Remus, who sniggered. Sirius pulled the covers off the bed and over himself. Now he was the one who was sniggering. Remus sighed, trying to tug the sheets back onto the bed. Sirius pulled back harder, and Remus toppled off the bed as well. Sirius giggled madly at his disgruntled lover, and Remus growled, launching himself on top of Sirius and tickling him. Sirius squealed, squirming away and flailing madly. Eventually Remus let him go, and Sirius pouted at him, his long black hair tousled.

"Stop being so damn sexy!" Sirius groaned, sitting upright "We're trying to act like friends!"

"It's not my fault I'm so irresistible." Remus laughed.

"No, seriously." Sirius grumbled. "I feel like an actor preparing for his debut…"

"Yeah, me too." Remus sighed. Sirius grinned.

"If you get nervous, just imagine me naked." he teased.

"And how will that help?" Remus laughed "That will just make it worse."

"Suppose…"

"So, want to go grab some breakfast?"

"Sure. You ready for your big performance?"

"As I'll ever be. You?"

"Hmmm, I guess. Lucky I'm such an amazing actor…"

Remus gave Sirius a playful push, and then got to his feet. After they had both got dressed, they made their way down to the kitchen. Molly was frying eggs, and the Weasley children were tucking into their third helping. Remus helped himself to some toast and sat down. Sirius greeted the others, and began to make himself a cup of coffee. He slid into the seat beside Remus, and took a gulp of coffee. Black, lots of sugar, and steaming hot, just how he liked it. Remus was gnawing on a piece of toast, and Sirius wondered how he could eat so little, and so slowly. He reached over and grabbed a piece of toast from Remus' plate, folded it in half and ate it in two bites, tilting his head back to swallow. Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Do you actually taste food if you eat it that fast?" he asked. Sirius shrugged

"Kind of." he laughed "But I know what toast tastes like anyway. Eating slowly wastes time."

"And time is Galleons!" Fred finished from the other side of the table. Sirius nodded

"Exactly."

Remus rolled his eyes, and sipped Sirius' coffee. He made a face.

"Whoah, no wonder you get so hyper, drinking that stuff. Did you use five parts sugar to one part coffee or something?"

"No, I just don't like bitter coffee." Sirius shrugged. "It's my perfect formula. Don't doubt it."

Remus got up to make his own coffee. When he sat down, Sirius was deep in conversation with Mundungus. He listened to them jabbering on about Peruvian dragon hide traders for a few minutes, and then turned to talk to Hermione about the DADA OWL.

"So, what would you be teaching us about this year if you were still at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked earnestly. Ron groaned.

"'Mione…" he said through a mouthful of sausage. "Oo ya ev sto…"

"What?" asked Hermione, looking repulsed.

He swallowed, and repeated

"Do you ever stop thinking about schoolwork? We're on holiday!"

"Yes, Ronald, but in case you haven't noticed, this year we will be taking our OWLs, exams that affect our future careers!" Hermione snapped. "We just better get a decent teacher this year."

"Hey!" Sirius said, turning away from Mundungus to join the discussion "I bet Remus was a decent teacher!"

"Oh, he was!" Hermione said hastily. "But when you think of our track record…"

Ron laughed

"Yeah, two working for You-Know-Who and one serious poser who didn't know his wand from his…"

"He was not!" Hermione protested. Ron smirked.

"Are we talking about Gilderoy Lockhart?" Remus asked. Ron nodded, and Remus grinned.

"Some of his stuff was still there when I moved in. I found a pack of black head pore strips and a powder pink eyelash curler."

Everybody except Hermione roared with laughter.

"And he was a fraud." Ron added. "He wasn't even a real teacher."

"I know…" Hermione said, hiding her red face behind her hair.

"And he was ugly." Ron said firmly.

"He was not!" said Hermione and Mrs Weasley in unison. Fred, George and Ginny laughed, and Sirius and Remus smiled at each other. Tonks appeared in the doorway, yawning. She saw Remus and sidled up to him, a huge smile plastered on her face.

"Hey Remus, how did you sleep?" she asked.

"Very well, thank you." he answered politely. Sirius put a protective hand on Remus' thigh as Tonks stepped closer. Remus turned his back on her and started talking to Sirius about the Quidditch results. Sirius could tell that Remus was just making an excuse not to talk to Tonks, as the werewolf had absolutely no interest in Quidditch. He smiled secretly, exploring Remus' leg with the tips of his fingers under the table. Remus reached out to clasp Sirius' other hand with his own, and gave Sirius a light kick with the toe of his shoe. Sirius kicked him back, a soft nudge on the ankle. Remus responded, but this time it was more of a caress than a kick. Sirius shivered, resisting the urge to launch himself at Remus. He disentangled himself from the werewolf, downed his coffee, and stood up. He left the kitchen and lent against the wall outside. Remus followed him, and raised an eyebrow.

"Come here." Sirius said roughly, shoving Remus into a broom cupboard and getting in behind him. He closed the door quietly.

"It's dark." Remus said unnecessarily.

"You don't like the dark?" Sirius asked, stroking Remus' chest.

"It depends." Remus replied, stepping forwards until they were almost nose to nose. Sirius could feel Remus' warm breath in his face, even though he couldn't see him. He tilted his head slightly, trying to make out Remus' shape.

"Where are you?" he asked. Remus kissed him on the lips, and Sirius smiled.

"Oh, there you are." he murmured, pressing his lips against Remus' and kissing him hungrily.

"They'll be wondering where we went." Remus said

"Spoilsport."

"Am not."

"Yes you are, you are spoiling my sport."

Remus laughed, allowing Sirius to kiss him once more, and then reluctantly pulling away.

"Come on…" he sighed, pushing the door open and stepping out. Fred and George were deep in conversation opposite the cupboard, but stopped abruptly when they saw Remus and Sirius emerging.

"What were you doing in there?" Fred demanded suspiciously.

"Looking… for…. uh… Magical Mess Remover." Sirius invented wildly. The twins didn't look altogether convinced.

"So… have the Death Eaters moved from outside yet?" asked Remus quickly.

"No…." George sighed, and Remus and Sirius both pretended to be dismayed by this news. True, it made the house crowded and there was the unwanted presence of Snape, but it did have some good points.

But by midday, the men camping outside the house appeared to have given up, and had disappeared. The Order took advantage of this absence by sending as many members outside to Apparate, before the Death Eaters returned.

Snape sneered nastily at Sirius and Remus before sweeping out of the front door with Dumbledore and Sturgis Podmore. Hestia Jones followed closely behind, smiling briefly at Sirius and Remus before stepping out into the street.

"Is Tonks not going?" Sirius asked in disappointment. Remus nudged him reprovingly.

"No, she and some others are staying. I guess there'll be less people here when Harry goes back to school."

"Probably." Sirius said "But Harry should be here with people who care about him!"

"Yes, we know." Remus said patiently. He tilted his head to look at Sirius.

"Want to go help clean?"

"There is nothing I would enjoy more." Sirius said dryly, slipping a hand into Remus' back pocket to "help" him up the stairs.


End file.
